In a blog for the SUS-POL project, Mistra Geopolitics researchers Claudia Strambo and Elisa Arond from Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and Daria Ivleva of adelphi, explore how the Colombian and Nigerian governments justify extracting oil and gas.
The science is clear: limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C requires a dramatic reduction in fossil fuel production. How then do national governments reconcile plans for expanding fossil fuel production with their climate commitments? Understanding the discursive strategies they employ is important to develop effective counter-narratives and strategies that challenge fossil fuel dependency and support equitable supply-side transitions.
Based on their article in Political Geography Claudia Strambo, Elisa Arond and Daria Ivelva explore how the governments of Colombia and Nigeria employed various narratives, to justify the continued extraction of oil and gas between 2015 and 2022. Like many middle- and low-income countries that produce fossil fuels, they depend on these to fund essential public services, sustain infrastructure, and retain political support.
About the SUS-POL project
The SUS-POL research project is based the University of Sussex in the UK and is exploring the political economy of fossil fuel phase-outs and drawing comparison from policy developments around the world. It encompasses the fields of global political economy, international relations, sociology, geography, and transition studies. One of its aims is to generate conceptual and practical insights into how policies that support the transition from fossil fuels can be adopted more widely across various contexts and levels of governance, and the conditions that give rise to them.
Mistra Geopolitics team
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